I am beginning to think about the landscape and strategy for the 2016 campaign as the Republican controlled Legislature begins to wrap up. Today I found an insightful analysis in Real Clear Politics. With Senator Joe Manchin deciding which roads to travel in 2016 – stay in the Senate or return to the big house on the Kanawha this is helpful.

This excellent analysis was written by David Byler – a West Virginia native – who is an elections analyst for Real Clear Politics. This is a must read for anyone about to engage in the 2016 election and is serious about politics in our state – as I am. Click here to read.

Most of my readers are either political junkies or people interested in politics, government, public policy or commentary. So here are “must reads.”

Political polling always seems a mystery to those not engaged in the practice of campaigns. There is an excellent piece on political polling in today’s Charleston Daily. Zack Harold the Capitol Reporter for the newspaper uses both a nationally known pollster and Mark Blankenship who runs a Charleston-based research and polling firm. Don’t miss this easy to understand explanation byclicking here. A side – by side piece explains ‘margin of error’ which is found by clicking here.

Two college professors are writing about today’s youth being turned off by politics. There commentary has appeared in newspapers across the country including The Charleston Daily Mail. Having lead the WV Young Republicans in the 1960’s I recall when most colleges had Young Republican clubs and nearly all counties had YR clubs.

The trend today is disturbing and requires the attention of our educators among others. We must assure civics is being taught in our schools. Political organizations must create activities that attract young people as politics can be fun. And finally community leaders need to make room for young folks in civic organizations, which could be the first step to becoming involved in government.

After Senator Manchin’s announcement that he had reached a deal on background checks in the gun control debate yesterday several people I spoke with asked how he did it. The answer came this morning when The Charleston Daily Mail ran an article that appeared in The Washington Post. It sheds light on Manchin as a new deal maker in the nation’s capital.

For our readers who follow politics or those just interested click hereto see how Manchin “worked Washington.”

I recall Republican legislative candidates in the 2012 election who desperately needed this type assistance. This kind of help might have made the differences in the make-up of the current House of Delegates.

Based on this development it appears if you are a Republican running for a non-partisan election – or more importantly a partisan election you should call on the WV Republican Party to provide costly assistance.

Maybe this is a new endeavor on the part of the Party and was never discussed or voted on in Party meetings.

Senator Joe Manchin continues his “campaign” of attracting national media attention. This morning’s New York Times features him front page with a color picture. A NYT reporter joined Senator Manchin in Beckley where he brought 15 citizens together for a discussion of gun laws. Read here.

My recollection is President Obama promised the American people the “most transparent government ever.” How could I have missed this story?

While West Virginia coal miners are providing an honest day’s work to provide the energy that fuels the Internet, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has been using an alias email account.

An article in Human Events claims, Jackson has been clandestinely sending and receiving thousands of emails in making decisions and conducting business. It has been reported “there are at least 12,000 recently discovered but as yet undisclosed emails…that has prompted two congressional inquiries and an inspector’s general (IG) investigation.”

According to various news reports Jackson’s secret identity email account’s name is “Richard Windsor.” The name is part family god (Richard) and part hometown (East Windsor, N.J.).

On Friday the Chinese issued new rules requiring Internet users to provide their real names to service providers. The United States government may want to follow this example and require government employees to use their real identity.

[Editor’s note: Here is a link to several stories, congressional and government letters about this development.]

News just broke that Lisa Jackson EPA Chief will leave the Obama administration. Is that good news for West Virginia? Who knows as I learned long ago be careful what you ask for! Here is the NY Times story.

Many of PHILLIPSBILLBOARD readers not living in the “political valley” may enjoy reading a wrap-up piece on this Election Day. It appeared in this morning’s Charleston Daily Mail written by Ry Rivard Mail Capitol Reporter. It you do Twitter he is worth following @ryrivard election night or anytime for that matter. Click here to read the wrap-up.